Research consistently demonstrates higher smoking rates - up to 50 to 70 percent higher - among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., LGB or sexual minority) populations than the general population. However, crucial research efforts remain to determine the etiology for these disparities, especially in qualifying the roles of familial, socio-cultural, and psychological factors unique to sexual minorities. Specifically, violence and discrimination have been associated with risk behaviors and poor mental and physical health among racial/ethnic groups, but relatively little research has looked at these sequelae among sexual minorities. Moreover, there is a paucity of research on types of cessation behaviors and facilitating/inhibiting factors associated with cessation behaviors among sexual minorities. Consistent with National Institute on Drug Abuse epidemiological research foci of studying 1) multiple factors that influence drug use and 2) pathways of psychosocial mechanisms associated with drug use, the long-term goal of this project is to enhance current understanding of cessation behaviors and risk factors that singularly and additively contribute to smoking disparities among sexual minority persons. Through a mixed-methods approach using a cross-sectional, web-based survey, this project specifically aims to recruit a sample of young adult (18 to 24 years of age) sexual minority young adults to: (1) identify risk factors associated with smoking;(2) explore pathways of risk factors associated with smoking;and (3) examine cessation behaviors and facilitating/inhibiting factors associated with smoking cessation. By enhancing current understanding of what confers singular and additive risk among sexual minorities, the results of this project can be used to inform critical prevention and intervention strategies and to generate theoretical models of risk and resiliency unique to sexual minorities. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Tobacco-related problems are a Leading Health Indicator in Healthy People 2010 with specific goals for reduction in use among adults,1 of which the age group of 18 to 24 reflects the highest percentage (28.5 percent) of adult smokers.2, 3 Research consistently demonstrates smoking disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., LGB or sexual minority) populations, who have much higher smoking rates than the general population.4, 5 It is critical to examine patterns and pathways of risk and resiliency in sexual minorities to inform theoretical models of why this disparity exists and what can/should be done to address it.